Hostage

6

ELIZABETH SHELBY

It was nighttime. I could tell because the sunlight had gone and I was sitting in the cold, dark, empty space. I hugged my knees to my chest and shivered. Where are you, dad?

William returned again. The door opened and he set an oil lamp on the table. It lit up the space and I could see again. He walked over and knelt in front of me. "Can I take a look now?" he asked. I didn't say anything. I didn't even have the energy to be angry anymore. "Bloody hell, Elizabeth!" he yelled as he stood up. "If I don't help you, nobody will. You will die here. Do you get that?!" he yelled. I flinched and he stopped and looked at me. "Please just let me keep you alive long enough for Mr. Shelby to get my father his guns." he said. I looked up at him. "Who's your father?" I asked. "Marc Colby," he said quietly. Then he looked down and walked over to the table. He grabbed the bag and walked back over. He took off his jacket and placed it on the chair. Then he sat in front of me. "Can you sit forward, please?" he asked. I sat up and he looked at me. He wet the same cloth from before and began to clean my wounds. "I'm sorry for what they did to you," he said. I said nothing. He took my hand and looked at my wrists. "They're bruised but nothings broken," he said. Then he reached for my leg. I pulled away and backed up. "Elizabeth, I- I need to see your legs." he said softly. My eyes filled with tears as he took the back of my knee and pulled my right leg towards him. He pressed the cloth to my inner thighs and I squeezed my eyes shut. When he was finished, he gave me more water and sat there while I drank it. He kept looking at me and I just stared at the floor. I wiped the tears from my eyes and finally locked eyes with him. "I hate you." I said quietly. He nodded. "I know." he replied. I was still shivering and I reckon he noticed because he took the jacket off the chair and passed it to me. "Here, you can wear this," he said. I nodded and pulled it on. "Thank you." I said. "Please- Please don't thank me," he said. Then he stood up and walked out.

I cried myself to sleep that night.

The next morning, I woke up to shouts outside the door. The pain in my body had dulled enough for me to stand and I walked over to the door. It was locked but I could hear what they were saying. "He's been getting all warm and fuzzy with a fucking Shelby!" Harvey yelled. "No, I haven't!" William yelled. "Really? Giving her food and water? He even fixed her all up like some kind of fucking candy striper!" Richard added. "If she dies in there, there goes your leverage!" William spat. "No, that's not it. He likes her. Isn't that adorable? He likes our fucking hostage!" Harvey said. "Is that true, William?" Marc said. "No, father. I'm keeping her alive. That's all." he replied. I heard more footsteps and I backed up. Then the door burst open. Harvey pointed at me and laughed. "How fucking cute, she's wearing his jacket." Harvey said. I stared at them and I was frozen in fear. They all walked into the room and shut the door. William refused to look at me. Richard walked over and pulled his jacket off me and pushed me into the wall. "She is not some little playard friend for you, Will. She's a Shelby slut with one purpose." Harvey said. "2, if you count her cunt" Richard said with a laugh. My eyes filled with tears and I stayed with my back pressed into the corner. "I got it." Will said quietly. "Good. So you don't care if we do....this?" Marc asked as he stalked toward me. He grabbed my arm and dragged me from the wall."Let go of me!" I yelled. Harvey held my arms behind my back and his hand over my mouth. I screamed and fought like hell. "You don't care if we do this?" Richard said, pulling out a knife. My eyes widened and I looked at Will. I pleaded with him to stop them but my words were muffled. "Come on, I got it. Ok, I got it" Will said. Richard just smirked at me and dragged the knife down my skin. I froze so I didn't get cut. "Looks like the princess here is afraid of the knife," Marc said with a chuckle. "Don't worry, I wouldn't want to cut that pretty skin of yours. I'm just afraid you're wearing far too many clothes." he said. Then he sliced down my dress and yanked it off. I was left in my bra and underwear. The men whistled at me and laughed. Then Harvey threw me back to the desk and bent me over it. "No!" I screamed. Tears streamed down my face and I looked at William. Harvey stood behind me and Richard held my arms while I screamed. "William, please! Please!" I begged. I could see the sorrow in his eyes but he stayed silent. "William, help me, please!" I screamed. "I don't need to watch this bullshit." he mumbled. Then Marc grabbed him. "You will watch, William. I want you to see what she's good for." he spat. William looked at his father and then at me. "William, please!" I sobbed. His face paled and he stared at the floor. I cried in pain as Harvey slammed into me. His hands left marks on my breasts as he groped them. Richard was even worse. He was violent with his thrusts. When they finished, they dragged me back to the chair. I couldn't even keep my head up as they tied my wrists to the arms of the chair and my ankles to the legs of the chair. "Can I at least keep checking on her? Just so she doesn't die before we get the guns?" William asked his father. He scoffed. "Fine, but not now. There's business to handle." he said. They all walked out and William took one more look at me before following them. He's right, I shouldn't thank him.